Industry and Health Ministries at Odds Over Cigarette Packaging Rules

The Ministry of Industry has affirmed its support for drafting derivative regulations of Government Regulation Number 28 of 2024 to provide legal certainty for businesses. However, it believes several provisions could potentially disrupt the sustainability of the tobacco products industry and should be reviewed, particularly those concerning cigarette packaging. The ministry argues that while health warning regulations are necessary, their implementation must balance health aspects, industrial interests, and the sustainability of the national tobacco ecosystem, which involves millions of people. “The Ministry of Industry in principle supports the issuance of the PP 28 derivatives because this is for business certainty. However, we reject the parts that regulate colour standardisation and font standardisation, the uniformity of colour and uniformity of font,” said Merrijantij Punguan Pintaria, Director of the Beverage, Tobacco Products and Refreshing Ingredients Industry at the Ministry of Industry, during an IHT discussion on Friday. She explained that the provisions in the PP actually regulate the standardisation of the position of health warnings on cigarette packs to ensure a uniform standard. However, this regulation should not be extended to govern the colour or typeface of the packaging. The Ministry of Industry believes that overly detailed policies could diminish the product identity of individual companies. “If evaluated, what is actually being standardised is the health warning and health information. This means no one should place it at the top, bottom or middle, so the position can be regulated. But we do not agree if it goes as far as regulating the uniformity of colour or font,” she said. Merrijantij noted that Indonesia’s tobacco industry has different characteristics compared to other countries because it has a complete supply chain, from farmers and processing industries to export markets. Therefore, every policy must consider its impact on the entire industrial chain. “The tobacco ecosystem in Indonesia cannot be compared apple to apple with other countries. In Indonesia, everything exists, from upstream to downstream, so every policy should consider the interests of the entire ecosystem,” she stated. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health clarified the perception that the government will implement a plain packaging policy on tobacco products through the derivative regulations of PP Number 28 of 2024. Benget Saragih, Head of the Working Team for Tobacco-Related Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, stressed that the regulations being drafted only concern the standardisation of packaging colour and will not eliminate brand identity or logos on cigarette packs. “We at the Ministry of Health are not implementing plain packaging, not plain packaging. Only the colour standard is regulated. The brand and logo remain, so it is only the colour so that the health warning is more effective,” Benget said. He noted that current cigarette packaging has highly varied appearances that are considered capable of attracting consumer attention, especially among younger age groups. The colour regulation is also not intended to standardise the entire packaging appearance. Company identity is maintained so that each producer’s products can still be recognised by the public. “The font is not regulated, only the colour, which is Pantone 448C. So the brand and logo are still allowed. This is not plain packaging as perceived by many parties,” Benget said.